At the 15 September 2011 AUSMIN talks in San Francisco, Australian and US officials took advantage of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the ANZUS Treaty to announce the alliance would now extend into cyberspace. It was the first time, outside of NATO, that two allies had formalised their joint cooperation in cyberspace.

ASPI convened a conference of Australian and American experts on 9 December 2011 in Washington DC to discuss what this means for the future of conflict and defence in cyberspace and how allies perceive and respond to mutual threats. As a result, papers by Andrew Davies, James Lewis, Jessica Herrera-Flanigan and James Mulvenon have been compiled in this Special Report.